


Nightmares get the best of us all

by That_is_right



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Nightmares, Past Relationship(s), Platonic Cuddling, Post-Canon, but no one actually dies don't panic, mentioned Lio Fotia/Gueira/Meis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:28:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23425528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/That_is_right/pseuds/That_is_right
Summary: Lio is the former leader of the Mad Burnish. A ruthless ex-terrorist. He doesn't get scared by nightmares.Seriously. He doesn't.Except maybe just this once.
Relationships: Gueira/Meis (Promare), Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 20
Kudos: 128





	Nightmares get the best of us all

**Author's Note:**

> The Lio/Meis/Gueira isn't in this, it's just a thing that happened in the past and is briefly mentioned. Lio and Galo are together, and Meis and Gueira are together. BUT THEY'RE ALL FRIENDS AND THEY LOVE EACH OTHER.

Lio has nightmares more frequently than he cares to admit. Galo knows about some of them. He’s intimately familiar with calming Lio down from the nightmares that leave him shaking and sobbing. Lio doesn’t tell him about the ones that don’t wake him, or leave him quietly paralysed with fear. He doesn’t want Galo to worry more than he already does. It’s not as though they’re actual issues. They’re just nightmares. The great Lio Fotia can deal with a few nightmares. 

This one starts on board the Parnassus, as many of them do. Lio is trapped in the engine, listening to the screams of the Burnish. He can hear Meis and Gueira, but he can’t get to them. No matter how much he thrashes and fights, he’s left to listen to the Burnish slowly dying. 

The scene changes. Kray has been defeated, and they’re freeing the Burnish from their pods. There aren’t many left, but Lio has yet to find Meis or Gueira, and he’s getting desperate. They reach the final two pods, and Lio knows this has to be it. This has to be it. They have to be here. They _have_ to be here.

They open the pods and they’re empty. All that remains is a couple of piles of ash.

Lio wakes up screaming.

“Wha—Lio?” Galo jerks up beside him.

Lio can’t stop the heaving sobs, clawing desperately at his chest.

“Lio, Lio, you’re okay, you’re safe,” Galo says, pulling Lio into a hug.

“It was my fault,” Lio wails. “They’re gone—my fault!”

“Who’s gone? Lio? Talk to me, hot stuff.” Galo pulls back from the hug to smooth his hands through Lio’s hair.

“Meis, Gueira, it was my fault!” Lio sobs, falling back into Galo’s chest.

“Lio, they’re fine. Everyone is fine, I promise. I was just a dream.”

Lio’s heart still feels like it’s about to beat out of his chest. He saw them, they were dead, they were gone. They were ash. He _saw_ it.

“But they were... it was... we were on the ship,” Lio explains shakily. “We couldn’t save them.”

“We were at their apartment for dinner a couple of days ago. You remember that, right?” Galo prompts.

Lio thinks back. He does remember that. But his dream... it felt just as real as this conversation does. What if this is just another, crueller nightmare? What if this is just his brain messing with him, trying to lull him into a false sense of security?

“I have to check. Galo, I need to make sure they’re okay.” Lio is already throwing off the blankets and getting out of bed.

“Wait, Lio! It’s the middle of the night, what are you talking about?” Galo follows him, cornering him by the wardrobe as he pulls a jacket and pants on. "Can't you just call them, or something?"

“I have to check, Galo. I have to see them. Please. I’m not going to be able to sleep if I don’t.”

“You seriously want to go across town to make sure your dream wasn’t real?” Galo asks, frowning slightly.

“You’re not going to be able to stop me, Galo. Gueira and Meis are my best friends, I have to make sure they’re okay.”

Galo’s expression softens. “I wasn’t going to stop you. I was going to offer you a ride. I don’t think it’s safe for you to drive like this.”

Despite the fear and anguish still clinging to him, Lio smiles. “Thank you.”

Galo puts on a jacket and a pair of boots, wrestles a helmet onto Lio, and then they’re off, weaving through the streets. The city isn’t completely deserted, but it’s strange seeing the streets so quiet. Lio has become used to the hustle and bustle of city living, and now it’s like a ghost town.

Nope, Lio doesn’t want to think about ghosts. Ghosts and dead things are a big no.

It only takes about 20 minutes for them to reach Gueira and Meis’ building, and Lio doesn’t wait for the elevator. He leaves the helmet on the bike and tears up the stairs, Galo thundering along behind him. They make it to the front door and Lio knocks frantically.

Nothing.

Lio knocks again, louder.

“Lio, give them a second, they’re probably still in bed.”

“What if they’re not here? I don’t know what I’m going to do without them!” Lio sobs, banging on the door.

It swings open to a furious-looking Gueira. His glare fades to a look of confusion. “Lio? Galo? What the fuck are you doing here? It’s two in the morning.”

“Where’s Meis?” Lio demands.

“He’s in bed—wait—” Gueira protests as Lio shoulders past him. He heads inside, straight to where he remembers the bedroom is.

Meis is, indeed, in bed. Albeit, looking very tired and very confused. Gueira and Galo follow Lio in, and Lio exhales loudly. They’re okay. Everyone is here, and they’re all okay. The adrenaline that had been keeping him going suddenly runs out, and he feels his knees buckle. Quite possibly anticipating this, Galo catches him and helps him to the floor.

“What the hell is happening?” Meis asks.

“You’re okay,” Lio says breathlessly. “It was just a dream.”

“It was just a dream,” Galo agrees. “Everyone is okay.”

“Can someone please tell me why everyone is in our apartment at _two in the morning_?” Gueira asks.

“I’m sorry, it’s my fault,” Lio says, dropping his head into his hands.

“Is everything okay?” Meis asks, voice still croaky from sleep.

“Yeah, I’m fine now. I just need a minute.”

“Do you want to stay here for the night? I can sleep on the floor if you want to take the sofa.” Galo offers.

“No, no I want to stay here. Can I sit with you two for a little while?” Lio asks, looking over at Gueira who, at some point, came to sit opposite him.

“Sure thing, boss. The Mad Burnish always have each other’s backs.” Gueira winks at him. “I’m getting back into bed though, so you can sit wherever you want.”

“Well then, I want to get into bed too!” Galo declares. “I am too old to be sleeping on a couch or floor. Come on.”

Galo hauls Lio up and deposits him on the bed beside Gueira. They shrug at one another, and Gueira pulls the covers up as Lio peels off his jacket. Galo climbs in beside Lio. Meis reaches out for Gueira, and Galo curls himself around Lio.

“Thank you,” Lio whispers. “I love you.”

“Always, and I love you too.”

Lio and Galo smile at each other, and then close their eyes to sleep.

* * *

Lio wakes to the sound of snickering. He tightens his grip on the warm body in front of him. The laughing increases in volume. Lio opens his eyes, pushing red hair out of his face. Wait, red hair?

“Gueira?”

Gueira groans and rolls over. They frown at each other for a second, and then laughter bursts out from either side of the bed. Galo and Meis are cackling away from where they're lying beside their respective boyfriends, and Meis is holding someone’s phone. Collecting blackmail material, no doubt.

“What the hell is happening? Why are we here?” Lio asks. The last he remembers, he and Galo went to bed in their apartment, alone.

“You guys look so cute together,” Meis sighs.

“Do I have some competition?” Galo chortles. "Should I be worried?" 

“Why am I here?” Lio asks again, ignoring them. 

“Do you remember last night?” Galo asks, serious now.

“No...?” Lio trails off, thinking.

Oh. The nightmare, then dragging Galo across the city to make sure that Gueira and Meis were okay.

Oh boy.

“Did I really barge in here at two in the morning to make sure you two weren’t dead?” Lio groans, flopping back onto the pillow.

“Yeah, then you tried to steal my boyfriend,” Meis laughs.

“Hey, there’s enough gay to go around,” Gueira smirks. “We never had any issues sharing in the past.”

Galo stares at the three of them. “You guys...?”

“We’re a bunch of sluts, we know,” Gueira says shamelessly.

“It was ages ago, we don’t do that anymore,” Lio promises. “Well, I don’t. These two, on the other hand...”

“You guys are lucky you didn’t barge in here a couple of hours earlier,” Meis says. “We had the ropes out and everything.”

“Stop teasing him, he’s going to break,” Lio laughs. Galo looks shocked, but the slight blush is giving away the fact that he’s a little turned on too. Huh, that’s something Lio will have to explore when they get back to their apartment. “Anyway! Stop distracting me! I’m sorry about all of this. Fuck, I’m an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot,” Galo says softly. “You had a nightmare. That shit messes with your brain.”

“I’m a fucking terrorist—"

“Ex-terrorist!” Galo interjects

“I’m a fucking _ex_ -terrorist,” Lio rolls his eyes, “I don’t get scared by nightmares.” 

“We get them too,” Meis offers.

“Shit’s fucked, bro.” Gueira shrugs. “We saw some fucked up shit. It makes sense that we’re all a bit fucked, too.”

Lio groans, frustrated. “But I should be better than this. I shouldn’t have to go across the city in the middle of the night to make sure that someone isn’t dead.” 

“Lio, it’s fine,” Galo says. “I know you feel like you can’t show any weakness, but you’re safe with us. You don’t have to pretend to be okay all the time.”

“We’re the Mad Burnish, not the Perfect Burnish,” Meis points out. 

Lio sighs. “You guys are right. Logically, I _know_ you’re right. I just... it’s hard to shake the need to be strong for everyone else all the time.”

Galo shuffles in close and pulls Lio tightly against him. “You’ve got us to be strong for you, too. You just have to ask.”

“And we’ll destroy anyone who makes you feel weak,” Gueira promises. Meis nods along with him.

Lio laughs. He snuggles in closer to Galo. “Who’d have thought this was how we’d turn out? The Mad Burnish, curled up in bed talking about emotions.”

Meis and Gueira shuffle in closer, turning their two-person cuddle into a four-person one. Lio has an arm around Galo, with Gueira on the other arm, and Meis curled up behind him. 

“We’re pretty gay,” Meis snorts.

“Homosexual to the max,” Galo agrees.

Lio snorts. With Galo on one side, and Meis and Gueira on the other, he can finally breathe.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm kind of a slut for the thought of Lio, Meis, and Gueira being a thing while they're out being outlaws and burning shit. Like, yes please, sign me the fuck up. Who doesn't love some casual homosexuality sprinkled in with some arson and sexy motorbikes? 
> 
> Also, I couldn't remember what the Parnassus was called 'till like 5 minutes ago. I called it the Pineapple while I was writing. I just thought that was funny. 
> 
> Come say hi [on Twitter!](https://twitter.com/that_is_yeet)


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